johnyept

My XBOX is setup with Evox M8plus + BIOS Virtual Disc Patcher Loader + XBMC4Gamers. If I boot with the Patcher, the eject button resets the console. If I boot without the patcher, the eject button works normally. Is this a normal symptom or is the loaded BIOS missing the eject trick/fix?

Well, mystery solved. Since I'm using ISOs instead of extracted folders, I'm loading Rocky5's BIOS Virtual Disc Patcher Loader before XBMC4Gamers, and that loaded BIOS either causes the eject button to reset by default or doesn't have the eject trick/fix. Just booting XBMC4Gamers makes the problem go away, so I'll ask about that in the correct topic. I also noticed that the original IDE cable doesn't work correctly with the 400GB IDE drive, which I thought only happened with sATA drives with a IDE adapter. Live and learn.

I found a "M8plus pack v1.4.1 of the PBL Metoo Edition" which includes Metoo-M8plus_16-06.bin and Metoo-M8plus_16-06-EF.bin, readme file says: I'll try the 2nd one tonight, if the eject problem goes away, I'll try customizing it with EVtool to my custom setup to see if it breaks or keeps the eject fix. If it works, I don't mind posting a link to it in case someone else finds it useful. EDIT: this is a BFM (Boot From Media) BIOS, I don't think I'm supposed to flash it, but run it on boot?

I used evox.m8plus.bin from TruHeXen 2021 and EVtool 1.0.9 to mod the BIOS, I don't see an option for an eject fix patch, but I did disable the DVD Drive Check in case I wanted to power up the XBOX without the DVD Drive later on. Could that be the problem?

Well I solved the LED problem: I mistakenly reversed wires 3 and 4 on one of the ends, resulting in orange light. I resoldered the 4 wires and the LED problem went away, but now I created a new problem: the eject button sometimes resets the console... ARGH! When I went at it again, I noticed that the 4th trace doesn't need rewiring as it's working perfectly, so I resoldered the 1st 3 wires but the eject problem is still there... I'll look for bent pins in the plug later today and might take another go at resoldering, but if I can't figure out the problem I might as well leave as it is, since the eject button will have very little use. Every game I have has already been added to the console in ISO format, I also recreated the ISOs so they occupy less space using extract-xiso (some games might not like it, I'll check that later), and I even downgraded the 1TB sATA to a 400GB IDE with about 100GB to spare.

That might explain it, as I did repair the traces. If I understand correctly, the XBOX doesn't have an orange light, it simply combines green and red LEDs to show that color, so a short would force both LEDs to light up whenever one or both of the LEDs are powered up. I'll check for shorts between the traces as soon as I can to confirm. Darn amateur soldering skills!

When I said powered off, I meant completely cut off from the AC, but somehow the clock was remembering the last date/time. The timezone was also already set from within the Microsoft Dashboard. Anyway, I'm now using XBMC4Gamers as the default app/dash and it correctly sets date/time after booting, so it "kinda" solved the problem. I did notice another problem though: the led is always orange, I can turn it off from UnleashX or XBMC4Gamers but I can't change to another color. I reflashed the EvoX.M8+ BIOS with the color set to green but it's still stuck on orange... when it was softmodded I could change the color at will with UnleashX, I'm not sure why I can't change it now.

Sorry for the late reply, been busy with other stuff. Just tried your settings for the SNTP but it doesn't update, even after reboot. Even weirder, the XBOX has been powered off for 2 days and although it has no capacitor, the clock was 11/9/2021 6:25, when current date/time was 13/9/2021 0:35, so it's not a timezone setting because it's over 24h. The version of Xbox HD Maker I used was the unofficial 2.3 beta3.

I knew a good night sleep would solve the problem! I didn't noticed that Xbox HD Maker doesn't copy the files from the E folder to the E partition, so all I really needed was to install UnleashX using TrueHexen, backup C and E through FTP, and when I need to install a new HDD, I'll use Xbox HD Maker with the C folder I FTPed and backed up, plus option "4. Browse files on Xbox drive" so I can copy files over from E folder to partition E, taking note of the checkbox to also copy subfolders. I now have a backup of UnleashX configured to my likings, with TrueMSdash_2_Green skin, modded 5960 dashboard with Audio, plus a few apps including XBpartitioner 1.3 to merge F and G into one partition with 64k clusters. Now I only have one problem: the clock isn't setting itself, even with the Xbox connected to the net and the "Autoset Clock" option set to Yes...

Thanks for all the input. Your suggestions gave me an idea: I connected the HDD to XBOX HD Maker again, went into disk explorer, deleted every file/folder, then installed UnleashX dashboard with TrueHexen's disc and set it as default. After that I used FTP to transfer the files from C and E to my PC and start the process all over again but this time with the files I FTPed. XBOX HD Maker forcibly wants a xboxdash.xbe in C so I copied evoxdash.xbe to xboxdash.xbe so it runs the copy process, then deleted it using disk explorer. I might have missed something because now the XBOX hangs at the startup logo with the Microsoft word at the bottom, but I was already very sleepy so I might have missed something. Will try again later today.

Just checked and the version I used to TSOP was TrueHexen 2021, option "EvoX M8 plus F only". HD Maker 2.3 USB beta3 created F and G, the DVD also had "EvoX M8 plus F and G", does that make any difference? I have the retail 5960 zip from Rocky5 softmod, should I add that to C partition instead, softmod the console with the Splinter Cell save game exploit, then backup whatever files are in C and E partitions, or am I just over complicating things? I'm also not locking the drive, since the TSOP doesn't require it, and it remains unlocked after installing the dashboard from TrueHexen.

I have 2 original XBOXes, one is v1.6 and I'll eventually add a modchip, and the other is a v1.2/v1.3. I finally got around to fix the corroded traces problem on the v1.2/v.13 by soldering 4 wires from a 80pin IDE cable, it looks much cleaner than using 4 stranded wires I added a used 1TB sATA HDD + IDE to sATA adapter + 80pin IDE cable and used Hexen 2018 or TruHexen 2021 (not sure which) which installed fine. BUT... I know the laser will eventually die and I want to have an alternative method of setting up an HDD, so I picked up a 2nd 1TB HDD and tried XBOX HD Maker 2.3 USB beta3, with the batch file modified to make it work with any connected HDD, not only USB. The steps I did were: - ran xboxhd.bat, option 2 (Launch xboxhdm), then within QEMU, option 1 (Build a new Xbox HD from scratch) - did NOT format partitions because it outputs "Error: out of memory" when formatting F: and then scrambles the entire output and menu, instead I went with option 3 (Format extended partitions on Xbox drive) + 4 (F and G splits space evenly), then 2 (Rebuild C-partition on existing Xbox-drive). When booting the XBOX with this HDD I get a blinking orange light and nothing on screen after the initial boot logo. If I use Hexen to install a Dashboard it works fine, so I know the HDD is correctly partitioned and formatted. The batch installs some files on the C drive, maybe these files are not the correct ones for a TSOPed XBOX?

Great find! I found/bought a SmartJoyFrag for XBOX in March but unfortunately it didn't have any documentation. Many thanks for the PDF and the custom bindings I'm always searching for a SmartJoyFrag and/or Max Shooter for PS2/XBOX, if I'm not mistaken Max Shooter allows separate horizontal/vertical speed configurations for the mouse, otherwise both devices are identical in functionality.

I myself had a really low res camera in my phone not so long ago, so I know where you're coming from. I'm in no hurry to get the manuals as I don't have any hardware for it (yet), but it would be annoying to buy it and not knowing how to use/program it... at least the photos of the Reference Guides were already a HUGE help! I've tried downloading the manuals for the XBOX/PS2's Max Shooters which are also photos from the manuals' pages and should be pretty much identical to the SmartJoy Frag manuals, but the links are long gone, even from Wayback. I've PMed someone which made a PDF from those pages back in 2009, but I'm not keeping my hopes up for a reply. http://web.archive.org/web/20080402034352/http://www.maxshooter.com/ps2.htm http://web.archive.org/web/20080322003159/http://www.maxshooter.com/xbox.htm I'm not into collecting stuff, just some M$/Nintendo/Sega/Sony consoles from 16-bit up that all fit into a (yet to be customized) KALLAX 4x2 shelving unit and a handful of games and controllers, but in this particular case I want it for both the collectible AND the experience. I've read somewhere else about that exact issue, that some games have different X and Y movements because they were designed with analog sticks in mind and ease of use, so not all of them translate correctly to mouse movements, but the same person also wrote that we "eventually get used to it", so I'm willing to give it a try! Now it's just a matter of waiting for one or both of the devices to pop up in an online marketplace in my country which might take between one day and a few years. Meanwhile I have a plethora of retro games in my backlog to keep me occupied while I wait!

Thanks for the input! I found a video which luckily shows the Quick Reference card in detail here for the XBOX. The PS2 version is basically the same except for the control keys, but using the (blurry) image above they're easy to figure out. Knowing that, the only information missing is about the F1-F8 presets. How do they differ from the Standard Preset? Different keys? Different Deadzone settings? Does the manual explain these presets? If they're using different keys, I'm pretty sure they can be figured out using XBOX's Gamepad Tester (TestLaunch) or a similar PS2 App. If I manage to buy a SmartJoy Frag for each console, I'm pretty sure they will not include any manual, so when I have them I'll dig a little more into this and make a reference sheet for both consoles. For now, the keys below should be enough to start Advanced Features: Deadzone: [ESC] + [0] to [9] (0 = 0, 9 = 90) Fine Tuning with [ESC] + [+] or [-] Invert Mouse Y axis (up/down): [ESC] + [PgUp] or [PgDn] Swap Move and Look: [ESC] + [Ins] or [Del] Factory Default: [ESC] + [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Del] Game Presets (PS2): F1=SOCOM II: US Navy SEALs F2=Medal of Honor: Frontline F3=Time Splitters 2 F4=James Bond 007: Nightfire F5=Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow F6=Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm F7=Return to Castle Wolfenstein F8=REZ Game Presets (XBOX): F1 = Halo 2 F2 = Medal of Honor: Frontline F3 = The Chronicles of Riddick F4 = Counter Strike F5 = James Bond 007: Nightfire F6 = Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow F7 = Return to Castle Wolfenstein F8 = Unreal Championship Other Presets: F11 = Blank Preset (for programming from scratch) F12 = Standard Preset (matches control key table) Use the Standard Preset (F12) for easy navigation through menus Control Keys (PS2): Left Stick: [W][A][S][D] Cross: [SPACE] Circle: [B] Square: [V] Triangle: [G] L1: [TAB] L2: [CAPS LOCK] L3: [Q] Select: [BACKSPACE] Start: [ENTER] R1: [R] R2: [F] R3: [E] D-Pad: [UP][DOWN][LEFT][RIGHT] Control Keys (XBOX): Left Stick: [W][A][S][D] A: [SPACE] B: [B] X: [X] Y: [Y] Black: [TAB] White: [CAPS LOCK] Left Trigger: [L] Right Trigger: [R] Left Thumb: [Q] Right Thumb: [E] Back: [BACKSPACE] Start: [ENTER] D-Pad: [UP][DOWN][LEFT][RIGHT] Programming: Hold [ESC] key, press the control key (see above), press the destination key or mouse button, release [ESC] key Saving: [ESC] + [F1] to [F8] overwrites original!

Forgot to mention, there's also a clone called Max Shooter (not Max Shooter One) for PS2 and XBOX, I couldn't find what's in the respective packages but f it also has a manual, the instructions might be very similar or identical to the SmartJoy Frag ones. Here's what I compiled about the functionality of both the SmartJoy Frag and Max Shooter devices so far: SmartJoy Frag PS2 Presets: F1=SOCOM II: US Navy SEALs F2=Medal of Honor: Frontline F3=Time Splitters 2 F4=James Bond 007: Nightfire F5=Tom Clancy?s Rainbow Six 3 F6=Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm F7=Return to Castle Wolfenstein F8=REZ SmartJoy Frag XBOX Presets: F1 = Halo 2 F2 = Medal of Honor: Frontline F3 = Chronicles of Riddick F4 = Counter Strike F5 = James Bond: Nightfire F6 = Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 F7 = Return to Castle Wolfenstein F8 = Unreal Championship Program keys / change default keys: Hold ESC, press original controller button, press desired key on keyboard or mouse, release ESC Other Keys: F11 = Advance Use / Save extra preset? F12 = Standard Layout / Reset preset? ESC INSERT or ESC DEL = Swap Mouse and Keyboard to opposite Analog Stick ESC 0 thru 9 = Set Center Dead Zone ESC - or + = Sensitivity Level

I grew up playing FPS on the PC, so it never felt natural playing them with analog controllers. I recently bought a used XIM4 and for me it makes a HUGE difference in gameplay, it actually feels like the games were designed from the ground up to be played with a Keyboard/mouse combination, minus the console button hints on the screen I also have an original XBOX and a PS2, so I'm trying to find used SmartJoy Frags for each of them. I know it won't be as good as the XIM, but I'm willing to try them anyway, as I'm intent on playing all HALO games, and I want to start with HALO 1 and 2, then eventually jump to the X360's Halo 3, ODST, Reach and 4. Every SmartJoy Frag I found for sale so far didn't include any of the original content: the Quick Start Guide manual, the Game Presets Table manual and the quick reference card. I did found an external forum topic from 2011 which included pictures of the complete packages for both XBOX and PS2, which I attached to this post Does anyone have any of these manuals, and is there any possibility of scanning them for Internet posterity and future reference?

You won't regret it! I had the luck of finding 2 XBOXes for the price of 1! Here's what I used to help identifying mine, plus Rocky5 softmod will also tell you which version you have after installed: https://xboxdevwiki.net/Hardware_Revisions, http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=367210&seqNum=2 - Did a softmod on v1.6 and replaced the original 10GB HDD for a 80GB HDD, this one will be used to run emulation with XBMC EmuStation + no-intro ROMs, for artwork I used SkraperUI and this tutorial on reddit. This way I'll be able to play every console I don't have, and I'll use it for 4 player games instead of buying multitap adapters and extra controllers for those older consoles. - v1.2 is also softmodded and it requires rewiring 3 or 4 corroded traces due to reboot/power issues, when repaired it will be used for XBOX games. I will eventually hardmod both to be able to use unlocked HDDs, I'm planning to use (if tested successfully) SD to IDE adapters with 128gb or bigger kingston cards: no mechanical parts, less noise, less heat, less power drain. I'll probably add an SD extension and an SD card slot so I can replace SD cards without opening the console! The same 128gb card also works with PS2, PSP, PSVita, and I'm still waiting for a USB3 adapter to test it on the Wii USB port too! And I bought a Duke! IT. IS. AWESOME!

Sorry, been busy so took a while to reply. I took a closer look at the original dashboard files, but couldn't find anything related to translated text, even tried hexediting some files, but they're either compressed or encrypted. UnleashX dashboard includes xml for English, French, German and Spanish. Any possibility that some other translations exist? If not, I'll probably make one for myself and share it.

I'm trying all methods of XBOX modding: softmodding with exploit is learned and understood, later steps will be TSOP (v1.2) and modchip (v1.2/v1.6) but for now I decided to replace the original 10GB Seagate HDD with a 80GB 7200rpm Seagate HDD because the original is reporting below 50% health with Acronis Drive Monitor. I went with XBOXHDM 2.2a because I already had a FAT32 flash drive for booting ISOs, so I just extracted the content, added the entries from menu.lst to my menu.lst, copied eeprom.bin to \eeprom folder and extracted v5960 dashboard files from Clean_C_and_E_Files_for_Xbox.7z to \hdm\C. It couldn't be simpler: Boot Slax, run xboxhd2 from command window (phase 2), run xboxhdm to create C/E/F partitions and autocopy the dashboard, lock the HDD with xboxhd2 again, insert HDD in the XBOX. All was OK until I booted the XBOX and was greeted with error 21. A quick Google search indicated it might be related to missing dashboard files, so I checked the C partition content with a quick hotswap, Windows XP and Xplorer360 beta6, and discovered that the files were copied in the 8.3 DOS naming scheme. For example, the "xboxdashdata.185ead00" folder was copied as "xboxda~1.185", the "XBox Book.xtf" file was copied as "xboxbo~1.xtf" and so on. Deleting all files and dropping them into Xplorer360 again solved the naming problem and the XBOX booted correctly. (EDIT: for some strange reason, partition E had duplicated folders: tdata, udata, TDATA and UDATA) So the question is: Why did Slax/QEMU copied the files in 8.3 format?

Sorry for digging up an old topic, but my question is about a similar subject, so I thought it would probably better to keep it all in one topic. My XBOX was set to Portuguese Language, and after softmodding with Splinter Cell and Rocky5 Softmod 1.1.6, the menus are now in English. There's no language file anywhere to select in System Settings, and booting C:\xboxdash.xbe with File Explorer takes me to the original Dashboard in Portuguese, where the laguage settings are already set to Portuguese. I don't mind the softmod dashboard being in English, but can it be changed to other languages? If so, where can I get the translations?

Many thanks! All is working again! Here's what I did: I connected the HDD to an old Compaq EVO running XP, the HDD was in fact unlocked and partitions accessible with Xplorer360 beta6, so I extracted the E/Backups/EEPROM folder. Then I connected the HDD to a Win10 x64 laptop with a Conceptronic IDE/sATA to USB 2.0 adapter, copied eeprom.bin to the xboxhdm23usb folder, ran xboxhd.bat and chose "3. Lock hard drive". Done! I think I might have a clue or two to what caused this situation: 1. The XBOX v1.2 has the power/eject button malfunction due to corrosion in the board traces, which I'll fix eventually. This might have triggered a power off during reboot because the XBOX powered itself down during the null key process. It seemed to continue the process when I powered it on but eventually got the ERROR 05. 2. I have Acronis Drive Monitor installed in the Win10 laptop and it reported the HDD health state at 50%. It has already many bad sectors and that might have contributed to the problem. I'll replace it with a bigger/healthier HDD when I get the XBOX modchipped.

Thank you for the instructions and the links. I used the FTP method, ran xboxdash.xbe from the File Explorer, changed the timezone in the settings, powered off/on, and I'm back to the softmodded GUI with the correct date/time, so problem solved! I'll do the same in the other console once I fix it, but that's a problem for another topic :)

Funny you mention that, because I already have 2 on the way, but they'll take a while to arrive. Meanwhile I decided to mess around with softmodding to learn a little more about both methods.

Yes it did say so. I did back up the v1.6 but forgot to backup the v1.3, so it's all on me. But it also serves as a learning curve for playing around with hotswapping :D